Introduction: 3D Printed Wire Management

Have you ever had to deal with pesky wires dangling from your printer, waiting to be snagged or ripped from connectors? Don't like the standard cable wrap? That is where Cable Chains come in. Cable chains house your wires in a chain which bends/moves with a moving part to protect and keeps you're wiring nice and neat. Today we will be using chain links made by a creator named Buback, and using my cable chain connectors to attach them to the printer its self.

Teacher Notes

Teachers! Did you use this instructable in your classroom? Add a Teacher Note to share how you incorporated it into your lesson.

Step 1: Tools/Parts

1: 3D Printer.

2: Screwdriver

3: Drill or Dremel(to make screw holes/tabs.)

Optional

A File.(To clean up your prints.)

If you wish to download the files I provided they will be available below.

Attachments

Step 2: 3D Print the Parts

Now would be a good idea to open up the slicer of choice, and 3D print the parts. You are going to need to print the same amount of top carriers as bottom carriers to make a proper chain. If the size of the chain is too small you can also scale the print up or down if you wish.

Disclaimer: You may need to change the size of the brackets to fit your machine, or make your own brackets.

Step 3: Mark and Drill

Now is the time to mark where the holes need to go on the brackets. All you need to do is hold the bracket over the existing screw or bolt and indent over the 3d part where the screw is. Repeat this for both brackets.

Step 4: Pop On

Now all you need to do is loosen the used screws/bolts a small amount and pop the brackets underneath the head of the screw/bolt.

Step 5: Thread

Thread the wires through the cable chain, or put the cable chain together around the wires and then connect to the brackets.

Step 6: Conclusion

After a few hours of printing and adjusting the 3D Model I have to say this chain looks good and clears up the previous cluster of wires. In applications that use moving parts such as 3D printers or CNC machines, I will go to cable chains as my go-to for now on.

Thank you for bearing through my first instructable. If there is anything that I can do better or if I left a mistake please tell me and I will correct it ASAP.

Thanks for responding rbreahna, It is a Anet A8 Printer and I got it from amazon(goo.gl/pD6QSK). The printer had some bad parts, and my controller board has a bad resistor that I have to replace every week or so, but getting the DIY kit allowed me to learn a whole lot about 3d printers that I didn't know and once you get it printing the prints looks nice and clean.